Selection
by Apprentice Witch
Summary: Cassidy finds out her son wants to be a pokemon trainer. It turns out it's not as simple as going to get his first pokemon when he turns ten. Giving the best isn't always good enough, especially when not even meeting all the requirements is.
1. Chapter 1

_Notes_  
_Please don't mistake this for one of those fanfics with the plot of "new trainer gets first pokemon and goes on a journey with it". We aren't even going to get to that point by the time I'm done here._

_This takes place in a specific AU of mine, though it can more or less stands alone from other stories in that AU. I'll just note that it's a verse where the characters age, and that should be enough necessary explanation._

* * *

**Selection**

**1**

Jonathan sat, tense in his chair, in the small room with his mother and the councilor. He tried to listen attentively to his guidance counselor, who was talking about how the school he was currently attending only lasted until they all turned about twelve. Good, Jonathan thought, he wasn't all that attached to this place, though he had lived there full time more or less since he was five. He was always provided for at the school, but he still didn't like being there at all. Though he didn't feel he was bullied too often, he was lonely, constantly feeling like the outsider. Whenever anyone talked to him it was like letting in that outsider, and soon enough he was excluded again, feeling isolated from the rest of the school.

Yeah, Jonathan thought, this loud, crowded place, he never really felt it was his home, despite the fact he stayed here even on breaks most of the time and had no actual 'home' to go back to. But still, he was anxious about leaving, both because he'd have to stay for another few years and also because it was going to be a change. It wasn't a sure thing that this change wouldn't just make things worse. There was no guarantee of things getting better. Even thinking this, Jonathan also really wanted to think there was a strong chance of getting to go to a place where he could be happy. He wanted to choose carefully so that his situation would definitely improve.

"So, what are his chances of getting into on those schools?" Cassidy asked. "Good, I hope, since he's gone here and all. His grades should be more than enough too."

"Well, yes... But there are more specific requirements to fill for any of these options in order to gain acceptance," the counselor explained.

"And you're saying his education here wouldn't cover these requirements?" Cassidy asked sharply.

"Oh, no, not at all," the counselor insisted with a wave of her hand. "The purpose of this meeting is to discuss Jonathan's future plans, so that his remaining time here can focus specifically on gaining those requirements, and getting focused assistance with studying to pass any possible entrance exams."

"I understand now. So, what school do you recommend he's placed in after his time here comes to an end?" Cassidy asked.

"Well, that depends on what type of study Jonathan himself wants to pursue."

Cassidy turned to Jonathan now. "Well, Jonathan? What do you want to do when you're all grown up?"

Jonathan jumped from having the attention suddenly shifted on him. It was uncomfortable to suddenly be at the center of the conversation, even though they'd been talking about him all along. "Um... I don't know," he said.

"Hmph." Cassidy smirked. "He's still a kid," she said, turning back to the counselor. "He wouldn't have any real picture of his future at this point."

"Yes, I understand, but we still have to make a decision to make the most effective use of his time here," the counselor pushed.

"I know that of course," Cassidy said. "Just give us the major options and we'll start considering what the decision will be."

"Well, of course there are many, many options." The counselor took out even more papers with pictures of various schools. "There are schools that focus on further general knowledge, but also those focusing on specific vocations. There are also those students who chose to take a recess from formal schooling and get real world experience, such as those becoming pokemon trainers, and those who..."

Jonathan's eyes widened and he sat up at hearing 'pokemon trainer', even as his counselor went on and on with the other options. "Becoming a p-pokemon trainer?" he said, interrupting her. After he'd spoken, Jonathan could hardly believe he'd done so, and sunk back in his chair.

"You want to become a pokemon trainer, Jonathan?" Cassidy asked.

"Yeah," Jonathan said softly.

"Well, that's not exactly an easy route to take," the counselor began. "But there are some students here aiming for that. You'd leave at age ten, so the exam for that and other training is soon upcoming."

"What exactly would he have to do?" Cassidy asked.

"Oh, well, Professor Oak in Pallet Town selects prospective trainers personally, ones that he hopes can best assist with research during their time traveling. Jonathan would have to spend some time at his laboratory and ranch, working with pokemon in the field as well as taking the written test. The knowledge gained here would certainty be an advantage."

"Do you hear that?" Cassidy turned back to Jonathan. "It's not all fun and games. You'd still have to work hard to help that professor with his research. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah!" Jonathan said, a little louder than he'd meant to.

Cassidy nodded, then the counselor did as well before speaking again. "Of course, he may not be selected, since it's a difficult process, often with a specified limited number of chosen trainers. So, we need to be prepared with something else that Jonathan can do. Let's go over our other options..." The councilor again brought out pamphlets for schools, going on and on about the information.

But Jonathan found it difficult to listen. He felt excited, thinking about heading out of here, and soon, as a pokemon trainer. He'd be free then, unchained to any building or institution. He'd be able to make friends with people and pokemon. He'd even have his own pokemon. Maybe he'd get to see his mom and dad more often, he hoped...

It had actually been a long time since Jonathan had seen his dad at all. Those years had seemed so long, but the memory was still pretty clear as Jonathan thought back on it, almost as if the visit had happened recently. Jonathan recalled his dad coming to the school, a surprise on one particular day. Jonathan had been feeling lonely then as well, but that sad, depressed mood had completely flipped around when Jonathan had found out his dad was there. When he was told his dad was waiting in the office, Jonathan had run right there, forgetting everything else.

His dad had been there waiting, and Jonathan hugged him right away. It had been a while since they'd visited together, even back then. His dad had then taken Jonathan away from this school, rather than visited in or nearby like his mom usually did. They went into the forest and played. Jonathan took off his uniform jacket, becoming almost unrecognizable as a student in his school, playing hide-and-go-seek with both his dad and his dad's pokemon. Jonathan first caught sight of the talking Meowth.

Meowth jumped in surprise upon Jonathan finding him. "Ah! Why me? Those other ones are way too obvious, and James is right behind them!"

Jonathan turned around. Victreebel and Carnivine were there, he could see now. The greenery of the forest had masked them in his eyes before. He ran over to them, going past the large grass types giving his dad a hug.

"Hey... Yeah, you found me," James said.

"Now it looks like those two have gotten away," Meowth pointed out.

Jonathan looked around, unable to find either of the two grass types. He looked around, and still couldn't even after a while.

"Hey, Carnivine, Victreebel, you don't need to hide that well," James said in a panic. "Chimecho," he said as he threw out another pokeball. "Help me find Carnivine and Victreebel," he said.

"Guess I'd better help too, huh," Meowth muttered.

The entire group looked around. First Carnivine jumped out from a bush, surprising them, and then they finally found Victreebel, just bouncing around. James returned them both to their pokeballs immediately, then sat down. Jonathan also sat down in his tiredness, and then crawled over to James, getting in his lap and hugging him again.

"I'm happy you're here, Dad," Jonathan said. His dad was different from his mom. He loved them both, but his mom could be unexpectedly sharp. His dad was softer. Jonathan had never seen a rough side of James. With his mom and dad both he could feel like he was part of a something, finally. A family. Jonathan hugged James again as he thought of this. He heard Chimecho's calming sound, which was supposed to induce a feeling of bliss, but he'd already felt that way before, with his dad near, hadn't he?

"Ah... Yeah," James said, and pat Jonathan's back. "Here, I've got us some dinner," he said.

Jonathan moved back as James went into his bag and pulled out the cans and other food for the pokemon. Jonathan ate the food happily. It wasn't the best, in a way it wasn't really even good, but it didn't matter. He was just happy to be spending time with James and all of the fun pokemon like this. He didn't want to leave.

"So, you're happy at this school here?" James asked casually.

Jonathan frowned. He hadn't wanted to be reminded of that.

"What is it?" James asked, a little surprised at Jonathan's sudden change in demeanor.

"I hate it there," Jonathan said. "Can I come live with you?"

"Hm?" Meowth tried not to look too interested, but still peered over at James for what his reaction might be.

James felt fairly confounded at this direct request, and was silent for a moment before he began to speak. "Ah... Well... You see... I-I don't really have a place that I live, Jonathan..." he said.

Jonathan looked down, frowning. He shouldn't have asked. It would have been nice to go and live with his dad, and be like a family with him, spending happy times together with him like this every day, but he couldn't have that. He should have known. Jonathan knew even then that what James wore was a Team Rocket uniform. Both of his parents worked for that organization, which was what made real 'family' impossible for all three of them, wasn't it?

"H-Hey," James said, and reached his hand down to his gloomy son's head, afraid to touch it, almost.

All on his own, the little boy moved forward and hugged James again. Jonathan wanted to cry, feeling so very disappointed. He tried his best at school, but still felt he was in such a lonely hell most of the time. In this hell, he wanted to be noticed and accepted, but was blown off and rejected whenever anyone paid a little bit of attention to him. Yes, it was a hell where what he wanted most hurt him badly and became what he wanted least. He wanted things to get better. He knew he could be happier.

And one way to be happier would be to live with his family, the people who loved him. Jonathan already was happier when his family was around and wanted to live with them so badly. It would be something he could hang onto while gladly suffering the rest of world. He could handle all of that suffering, he just wanted this little bit of happiness. So why couldn't he feel the contentment of this acceptance more often? Why did it only come once in a blue moon?

But he could feel it now. Yes, he definitely was feeling it now. He should just appreciate that, Jonathan told himself. He had this great amount of love and happiness right at that very moment. He should just be enjoying that. His dad loved him and was happy to have him there right then. Jonathan hugged James, taking in the acceptance and love of the moment.

James felt the trembling kid in his arms eventually calm down, and felt somewhat relieved. "So you... Hate it there?" James asked.

"I'm working hard," Jonathan affirmed. He didn't want his dad to think he was getting lazy.

"I'm sure you do," James said absent-mindedly. He recalled his own childhood, working hard to study everything for hours on end, and hating it. Was Jonathan in a similar sort of situation, forced to do what his parents thought was best, all while he himself was miserable? And with how young he was, he couldn't step out on his own the way James had done, not that that situation had been completely rosy, either. But this situation didn't have to be indefinite. "Jonathan, your time there won't last forever," James said.

Jonathan perked his head up hopefully. Was his dad going to take him away to live together one day? Even though James had no place to live, would he have that one day?

"When you're older, you can leave here and depend on yourself with your pokemon... Right?" James suggested.

"I can have pokemon?" Jonathan asked.

"Well... Yeah, I'm sure you can... When you're old enough... Somehow," James said.

Jonathan smiled and happily hugged James again. The current Jonathan also smiled, thinking of the memory. He participated in the conversation about schools somewhat, hastily agreeing to the school he'd go to when he was twelve. One where there was a big library where he could bury himself with his studies, away from everyone else. It was only possibly somewhat better than where he was, but not great.

But that vision of a future, it wasn't going to be his. That was just an unneeded backup. His future was going to be great, happily pokemon training, making new friends everywhere. And even if it was painful there too, even if he still had the same troubles... He'd not only have pokemon as friends, but he'd be able to see family far more often. Things would definitely be better, they'd be great! Jonathan was sure of this.

* * *

"He really seemed all enthused about that?" Butch asked Cassidy as they walked along in the Team Rocket base.

"Yeah," Cassidy confirmed. "Who would have thought? You remember how scared he was when he was little of all pokemon. But he's really matured and gotten over that, hm?"

"Yeah," Butch agreed.

"Well, I'm glad he's happy, but isn't this trainer thing a waste of time?" Cassidy asked.

"Are you kidding?" Butch said. "Being a trainer is the best for a kid his age. Even if he sucks at training, he'll learn a lot about pokemon. And it's more than that. He'll meet a lot of important people everywhere. They call that networking. It'll help him get somewhere later."

"Yeah, that's true," Cassidy said. "But the whole process still sounds kind of tough. I worry about him. He might be kind of disappointed if he fails, and he gets depressed so easily."

Butch looked to the side, pausing before he continued. "I could make sure he passes," he said.

"What do you mean by that?" Cassidy asked with an eyebrow raised. "You _know_ I wanted to make sure to keep everything shady away from him."

"Yeah. I know that," Butch said, and it made sense, since Cassidy wanted to raise Jonathan away from a certain trend where children of Team Rocket members often became part of the organization themselves. "I didn't mean anything underhanded. It's just that I know all about this process. Oak ran the show when I tried to be a trainer, and I really don't think he's changed things much, even after this long."

"Ahh, that's right," Cassidy said with a grin. "You wanted to be a pokemon trainer yourself, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Butch said.

"But you failed at that, so-"

"That doesn't mean I don't know how this shit works. I know what he needs to study and what he needs to do. I might not have been able to be a trainer then, but I went through the process, so I know what'll make them see Jonathan as a perfect trainer candidate."

Cassidy shrugged. Butch might have failed at the time, but he was older now. It was easy to look back with twenty-twenty hindsight on how to pass a group of tests meant for some nine or ten-year-olds, she concluded. "I guess you probably do," she said. "So, you'd be willing to spend the time to help him?"

"Sure," Butch said calmly. "I want to see him succeed as much as you do."

"That's actually kind of sweet of you. Hopefully he'll be able to appreciate your help."

The next time Cassidy went to visit Jonathan at the school, she brought Butch with her. They all sat together in a lobby, no one else around to bother them. "Jonathan, are you trying hard with all of your studies? Especially this trainer thing you're so set on?" Cassidy asked.

"Yeah," Jonathan nodded eagerly. "I get to go to Oak Ranch with everyone soon!"

"That'll be fun, huh?" Cassidy said, his enthusiasm rubbing off on her. She motioned to the side. "And well, Butch thinks that he can help you with that. He know a lot about this trainer selection process. He can help you study to pass everything. That'll give you a real advantage. As long as you're willing to do the work, that is."

Jonathan looked at Butch hesitantly. This man was around an awful lot with his mom since they worked together. Jonathan had grown up around him. Jonathan didn't hate his mom's partner, actually wondered if Butch might hate him, often feeling an emotional coldness when they were around each other. Jonathan always tried to avoid eye contact or speaking directly to Butch whenever the man was around. That shouldn't stop him now though, Jonathan thought, looking back at the two adults and nodding seriously. "I'll do the work," he said.

"Will you really? This isn't a small thing, him taking this time to help you," Cassidy said.

"I really want to pass! I'll do the work!" Jonathan said. Though when he looked at the man next to his mother, he felt like sinking away. But he really did want to pass, to get out of the school he was at and to a more pleasant, exciting lifestyle. And if this man's help could give him an advantage, there was no way Jonathan should refuse it.

Sitting down with him later to study, it really wasn't that big of a deal. Butch was no-nonsense in giving him books to read, pointing out chapters to focus on, and asking him questions to make him think. "Since it increase the fire pokemon's power, you should keep your grass pokemon out of that harsh sunlight, huh?"

"I-I guess, but, don't grass types need the sunlight? Doesn't it help them?" Jonathan replied.

"So you're saying it can kind of be like a double-edged sword in battle, then."

"Yeah," Jonathan said, then thought about it more. "But if there are no fire types around..."

"Yeah. What are fire types weak to?"

"Water, and-"

"Which is weakened in sunlight, but also-"

"Rock and ground."

"Yeah. Good. And what are grass types also weak to?"

Butch continued quizzing him. Jonathan started to get tired, but still kept at it, imagining how all of this would help him once he finally was a trainer, as well as how he'd apply it. Finally, the end of the day came, and Butch was packing things up to leave. Jonathan felt really grateful to him, and wanted to thank him. He felt kind of apprehensive about doing so, but he really should, right? Butch hadn't had to help at all, and now Jonathan felt so much more confident than he had before. So when Butch turned to the door, Jonathan called out to stop him. "Ah... Barry."

"That's Butch," Butch said sharply.

Jonathan faltered upon hearing that, shrinking back. He really was anxious around this man, and now he recoiled at his harsh tone. "Sorry... Butch." Jonathan said, now staring at the ground.

Butch could have sighed to himself. It had only been a reflex response, he hadn't meant to upset Jonathan like this. It was the first time anyone had really been upset about getting his name wrong at all. People did it because it was hard to remember, people did it as a joke to laugh at him. But Jonathan looked almost like he'd been slapped from the correction. Jonathan had known Butch pretty much since he'd been born, so Butch thought the kid might have learned his name by now, but apparently that wasn't so. And Jonathan was even kind of embarrassed about it.

"Thanks Butch..." Jonathan said after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah," Butch said. "No problem. I'll see you again later."

Jonathan looked up and smiled, glad that Butch didn't seem too angry after all. He really did want Butch's continued help. "I'm going to read it all," he said, motioning toward the books beside him.

"Yeah. I'll be expecting that. I'll have to quiz you to make sure. Don't get complacent with this. It'll be a constant struggle both while you're doing this assessment crap and when you're an actual trainer."

"Yeah, I know. I'll be studying, I'll learn it all," Jonathan assured.

Butch looked at the kid's hopeful face and gave a slight smile himself before leaving the study hall and then the school. Butch recalled his own wish for becoming a pokemon trainer... He had felt the same excitement as a kid, seeing a flyer on a bulletin board that Professor Oak had been looking for young trainers to assist him by going out in the field.

Butch had known this path was something that was possible for him since the professor promised right there on paper that all of the basic needs of trainer and pokemon and necessary expenses would be taken care of by the network of trainers and pokemon centers all around Kanto. The younger kid he'd once been had been thrilled at the idea of choosing his own pokemon as well as knowing he could catch all the pokemon he wanted, since the excess ones would be taken care of. So Butch knew exactly how excited Jonathan was, recalling his own hope from that long ago.

That hope had been crushed, but Butch was privy to the reasons why and knew that it would be much different for Jonathan. He looked forward to Jonathan's acceptance and payoff. He'd enjoy that. It would feel like things had come full circle and then been corrected and all. Yeah, Butch thought to himself, even if things hadn't gone well for him, he would be taking his own long-awaited gratification from Jonathan's success.

* * *

Jonathan was nervous as he went on the bus with the four other boys, all still dressed in their school uniforms, to go to Oak ranch. Jonathan sat at the front as the others loudly talked in the back. He would be contented if they didn't bother him and he could use the time to get caught up, Jonathan thought to himself. He took out his field guide, a supplemental guide that Butch had recommended, and began to read.

But only a little while into the trip, one of the other boys plopped next to him. Jonathan looked to the side and then to the back. The other boys were still talking and joking with each other, it was just this one who had gotten near him. "So, Jonathan, you're trying to become a trainer, too?"

"Yeah," Jonathan said, looking over at the boy briefly, not sure if he should stop reading or not. He knew this boy, of course, as they were classmates and had been so for years. His name was Gilbert. Jonathan didn't really know much about him, as, along with the rest of Jonathan's classmates, the one talking to him now often otherwise paid Jonathan no mind. Gilbert was pleasant enough, though.

"Me too... Well, you know that. I'm from Pallet Town, you know."

"You are?" Jonathan said. He hoped Gilbert didn't ask where Jonathan himself was from, as he didn't really have a home town that he and his parents had lived to answer that question.

Luckily, Gilbert was blissfully wrapped up in himself. "Yeah. I'm sure I'm gonna get chosen. It is a little weird going to Oak Ranch, though. I've never been before. Well, it's nothing I can't handle. I bet they're just going to show us stuff."

"Yeah," Jonathan said. "I want to see everything."

"Well, there are some really powerful trainer's pokemon there. We could see how pokemon are supposed to be," Gilbert said.

Jonathan got into a short conversation with Gilbert, even putting his book down to talk. So, he was getting to see Oak Ranch and even have a few moments of social acceptance? Well, Jonathan knew that Gilbert had likely only spoken to him for convenience sake, but he still enjoyed it. This was going to be a great day. And as they pulled up to Oak Ranch, looking up at it, he started to get even more excited.

Filing out of the bus, Jonathan saw that his classmates were calming down, not rowdy at all, just like when a teacher came in the room, though Professor Oak hadn't even appeared. Still, they walked silently with their chaperone up the steps and to the door. "Hm?" the elderly man that opened the door looked down at them, appearing confused. They all recognized him as Professor Oak and stood up straighter. Professor Oak smiled and nodded. "Ah, it's the prospective trainers from that school, of course, of course. I didn't forget that you were all coming. Well, come on, come in!"

Everyone filed in, and hesitantly followed Professor Oak down the hall. "Tracey," the professor called.

"Professor... Oh, it looks like they've shown up after all," Tracey said as he walked out of the room.

"Well everyone, this is Tracey, my assistant. He'll be helping you on your task today, which is to help take care of pokemon here inside and on the ranch," Professor Oak explained.

"We get to play with the pokemon?!" a boy exclaimed.

"Listen, you've got to take this job very seriously," the professor explained. "I have a large number of pokemon here, some for research purposes, and many belonging to the trainers who started out here, as you might. You need to feed them and exercise them, and other important jobs. Not that you can't have fun, but don't miss that you've been given a big responsibility."

The five of them all nodded eagerly.

"Good," Professor Oak said, smiling at them again. "You'll learn a lot here that might be good for your upcoming exam. And we'll also be observing you to see how you do."

"What?" several of the boys cried in dismay. Jonathan also felt tense, not liking the idea of being watched and judged.

"It's alright to make mistakes, but how you handle those mistakes will also reflect on you. Alright Tracey, get to work."

"Come on, everyone!" Tracey motioned them toward the back of the house, and then outside. "I'm Tracey. And you all are?" Tracey nodded at them as they all said their names, heading to a back storage. "Alright, we'll get to feed the pokemon soon, but first, something I've been meaning to do for a few days... A few ground and rock type pokemon have dug up the grass pokemon's area, and those holes need to be filled." Tracey handed them all shovels, and there were some groans, but then they all headed out toward the area.

"Look!" the boys said in dismay as they saw it. The whole areas was covered with holes. There was hardly even a grassy patch left.

"Just take it one at a time. This won't take as much time as you think," Tracey said.

The boys got started without another word. After watching them a while, Tracey left to get supplies for the next task. Jonathan calmly kept covering holes, but others took the opportunity to shout and play around, throwing dirt at each other while they weren't being observed. After getting bored with that, they then started racing who could scoop the dirt as quickly as possible. Jonathan heard them scream and run away. "That's not right! Go get Tracey!"

Since they'd been playing around, Jonathan hadn't taken the screams too seriously. But he was curious, so as they ran away, he went toward the hole the other had run away from. The dirt was moving a little bit, and Jonathan saw a rock pop out of the ground. Except it wasn't a rock, it was a pokemon. "Geo..." it said.

"Geodude," Jonathan said. It was a really small one. He was nervous, because rocks could hurt, but didn't scream like the others had. He went to a bush and picked off a berry. He'd been reciting the berry types while looking at the pictures, and had memorized which ones were best for certain types and which ones shouldn't be fed to other certain types. This berry, an oran berry, was fine for all types. "Geodude," Jonathan said. "Sorry about that. Do you want this?" Jonathan stood a little bit away, still kind of apprehensive, but still held out his hand with the berry and smiled.

"Geo..." the little pokemon seemed to frown. It brought itself out of the dirt pile and hopped closer. Jonathan stopped himself from flinching, though he supposed the pokemon might soon attack. But the pokemon was also apprehensive. It floated closer cautiously, then reached a hand hesitantly toward Jonathan and took the berry. "Geodude," Geodude spoke positively as it ate the berry.

"Alright," Jonathan said, sighing in relief. "You must be lost. I'm really sorry about those other guys. Do you feel better, anyway?"

"Geo," the Geodude confirmed.

"I'm glad," Jonathan said. The pokemon seemed conformable around him right now. Being on Oak Ranch, it was probably really used to humans by now, not like wild pokemon which would have definitely attacked by now.

The boys came running back, dragging Tracey as they yelled. "Geo?!" Geodude said in alarm, dropping its berry.

"It's okay," Jonathan said. The pokemon seemed to trust Jonathan's calmness, but still hid behind him.

"What? What is it?" Tracey asked, unable to make out what the rowdy boys were saying.

"It..." Jonathan began, but couldn't get their attention. "Hey!" he said loudly. He looked down at the ground and sighed as the other boys still didn't quiet down. Tracey noticed Jonathan tried to talk, and once Tracey quieted them, Jonathan spoke up. "It was just a Geodude that you guys were scared of."

"We weren't really scared, Jonathan," one snapped back at him.

"Oh, Geodude!" Tracey said in realization. "It's that skittish geodude. A new trainer sent Geodude here. She'll be happy that we know its location now."

The Geodude ran from Jonathan over to Tracey. "Geo, geodude!" it said with a relieved tone.

"Ah, you must have gotten stuck here when the grass types chased everyone out, huh?" Tracey said. "Well, I'll get you back to your friends."

"Geoo!" The Geodude said happily.

"Jonathan... Right?" Tracey said, hoping he'd gotten this kid's name right. He didn't protest, so Tracey continued. "Looks like you took care of this guy. But you do kind of have to be careful what berries you feed pokemon... I hadn't said that yet because I thought I'd gotten all the pokemon out for us to clean up. But it's okay, this type of berry is fine for it."

"Oran berries are okay for all pokemon, right?" Jonathan said.

"Oh... That's right," Tracey said in surprise. The kids that came here usually didn't have a very good knowledge base for stuff like that.

"It's minimal effect for nutrition, but it's still good for everyone, that's why I gave one to Geodude," Jonathan said. "It was scared, and I wanted it to be happier."

"Yeah... Well, we'll get a chance to feed all the pokemon soon, once we're done here. So hurry and finish up! I'll be right back after I get Geodude to where it needs to be."

"Okay!" everyone agreed, happy at the prospect of meeting more pokemon.

"Don't panic if you see another pokemon... And check the holes now before you cover them, okay?"

"Right!" the group said to Tracey.

As Tracey left, everyone got to work. "Jonathan, you work with me. I'll check the holes for us," Gilbert said.

Jonathan agreed. Everyone worked diligently, and by the time Tracey was back they were all finished.

"Good job, everyone. Alright... Now let's get started with the next job!" Tracey grinned as he led them back to the laboratory building.

Apparently, they were going to feed the water pokemon first. Jonathan and the others carefully carried out the food jars.

"Pokemon can find food themselves," Tracey said. "But there's really too dense a population in this environment to provide for everyone. So we have to provide a lot of their sustenance. As trainers, you'll also have to use pokemon foods to feed your pokemon. So, take the opportunity to learn about the different kinds."

The boys all trotted out to the pond. The water pokemon carefully approached them. As the five of them opened some of the jars, the pokemon began to gather around. Tracey put the food dishes out. "Make sure the right pokemon gets the right amount," he said.

They filled up the food bowls, and the other boys started laughing as the pokemon came and nudged them. "Alright, you guys want leftovers?" one of them said, running out to the pond. They splashed and laughed with the various pokemon. Jonathan smiled, happy he could be by all the fun but a little bit too shy to join in himself.

"Alright, we're almost done here... I'll just-" Tracey stopped as he saw Jonathan wandering around.

Jonathan had found a corphish. It sort of hissed, and he jumped a little, but then started talking. "Aren't you hungry too?" Jonathan asked. He looked around and then ran over and got an empty food dish, measure how much the water type was to have, then came back over to the corphish. He stood a little bit away, but put the food dish even farther away than the corphish was from the water. "Here you go," Jonathan said. He then walked away, and looked back as he did. The corphish wandered out and took some of the food. Jonathan smiled. So he was able to help a 'shy' pokemon.

Tracey looked on with interest. This kid was not only empathic, but pretty smart. It had taken them a while to realize that this corphish wanted to eat alone for whatever reason, far from the other pokemon, or else it wouldn't eat at all. Jonathan had figured it out right away. "Jonathan, are you finished?" Tracey asked.

"Y-Yeah, I think so," Jonathan said, looking around.

"Alright everyone, let's go! We still have several other areas to cover."

As they went on to the other areas, Tracey took the time to talk more to Jonathan. He realized that this kid knew a lot about the pokemon food ingredients, even though he didn't know how to make pokemon foods yet. Tracey was rather impressed. Before the group left for the day, Tracey went to his room and got a book about pokemon food production, and then gave it to Jonathan. "Jonathan, since you know a lot about berries that pokemon prefer, it might do you good to learn how those and other ingredients are made into pokemon foods. Here you go."

Jonathan looked at the description of the book, then back up and smiled. "Thanks, Tracey!" he said. As Jonathan left with the others and rode home listening to Gilbert talk about the various pokemon they'd seen, he felt extremely positive and hopeful, much better than he had for a long time. He had met and momentarily befriended pokemon and had impressed Professor Oak's assistant so much that he'd been leant a book. He'd certainly have to read it. And then, he'd impress Professor Oak himself with his testing results and after that, he could permanently befriend some of his own pokemon. Jonathan was so happy about the prospect. He could hardly wait.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Jonathan and the other boys patiently swept the large training gym. They'd long gotten used to their chores at Professor Oak's place. Jonathan was happy that he wasn't the only responsible one now. Even when Tracey left the room, everyone remained on task. They were all trying hard, since they really did want to be trainers. Jonathan swept diligently, not even looking up as he heard the door creek open.

"Woah!" the other boys shouted, and Jonathan heard their brooms and mops drop. He looked up and saw them run over to the door where a Squirtle and Charmander had appeared.

"Squirt squirtle..." the Squirtle said, backing off a little, seeming to laugh at the crowd, but also tensing up its body as the boys came closer.

"Char?" The Charmander looked up curiously at the boys.

Jonathan also put his cleaning supplies to the side carefully and went over to the pokemon.

"I want Squirtle to be my first pokemon. They're super cool," one of the boys commented.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle said happily.

"Hey," Tracey called from down the hall. "Oh, there you are," he said to the pokemon as he entered.

"Tracey!" Gilbert explained. "These are-"

"These guys have been really bored just sitting around the lab. Professor Oak said it would be okay if they hung out with you today. Oh, and right, they'll be your starter pokemon, you know. These very few. That's funny though... Where's the other one..." Tracey began to look around.

The other four boys were enthralled with the current two, but Jonathan knew what Tracey had meant by 'other one'. The 'other' would be the third Kanto starter, Bulbasaur. The grass/poison type was the one that Jonathan had been interested in most while studying. They had many offensive advantages type wise and could learn cool moves. In general Jonathan thought both types were great, and remembered bulbasaur in particular fondly, since the former janitor at school had two of them. They were both pretty fun to play with, though he hadn't really been given too much chance to do so.

Right now Jonathan looked around Tracey's feet for where this third starter pokemon might be. He went looked around the door, and saw Bulbasaur hiding under a step stool. "Hey," Jonathan said.

"Saur?" Bulbasaur looked up.

Jonathan smiled. It seemed small for its species, though maybe it was just that Jonathan himself had been smaller and younger when he had been around those other two bulbasaur. Still, this one looked tiny like a baby. "Bulbasaur?" Jonathan called in a low voice. "I-It's okay..." Jonathan timidly held out his hand to the frightened pokemon.

"Bulba?" Bulbasaur studied Jonathan a moment. Then it jumped out with a smile. "Bulbasaur!" it said.

"H-Hey there," Jonathan said, quickly patting Bulbasaur on the head.

"Saur, saur," Bulbasaur rubbed its face against Jonathan's leg. "Bulba!"

"D-Do you want to come meet everyone else?" Jonathan said. He supposed Tracey would be worried, and that his classmates should all see that Bulbasaur are 'super cool' too, just like the other two pokemon.

"Saur!" Bulbasaur nodded, and happily followed Jonathan in.

"Ah, there it is," Tracey said. "Now, everyone, time to get back to work."

"Right," the five boys said grudgingly but dutifully, all of them wanting to play with the little pokemon, but still wanting to not seem lazy at this point.

"Oh, and you guys," Tracey began, turning to the pokemon. "You can stick around, but try not to get in their way, okay?" he explained.

The three pokemon nodded, and all of them wandered around.

As Jonathan mopped, then turned around, he saw that Bulbasaur had been following him. "Ah," Jonathan said happily. "Do you want to help?" he asked.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur nodded.

Jonathan knew that this bulbasaur wouldn't be like the others that he'd met. At least it wouldn't have been as experienced with cleaning. So he gave the pokemon a little fragment of a sponge, and then motioned the movement for Bulbasaur to copy with its vine.

"Saur?" Bulbasaur looked with confusion as the sponge slipped around the vine. "Bulba?" he looked at Jonathan.

"Ah... That's okay, Bulbasaur," Jonathan assured. "It was just a little hard for your first try. Maybe you could use your foot."

"Bulba?" Bulbasaur lifted its foot over the small sponge. Jonathan realized that would be much harder to move.

"Oh, I know, why don't you just try the cloth?" Jonathan found a wash cloth and dampened it. "It can wrap around your vine that way. It'll be easier, I bet."

Bulbasaur put its vine into the rag, and moved it around the area easily. "Bulba!" it said happily as it helped Jonathan clean.

Jonathan smiled, noting that it wasn't able to clean a huge space. "Bulbasaur, why not get the corner of the room? It's not as easy for me to reach," he said.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur nodded.

They cleaned together, and Tracey nodded happily, having seen Jonathan's interaction. He was really able to encourage the pokemon, to take advantage of its strengths and push it just hard enough that it was still able to succeed. Jonathan was really his favorite of these new possible trainers, even though he probably shouldn't have one at all. But Jonathan surprised him all the time in positive ways, and was growing more each day, which was nice to see. Tracey turned around and concentrated on the slower-going ones too, as to not seem too biased.

Jonathan didn't really call for it or encourage it, but he was surprised as he saw the bulbasaur follow him from task to task. He smiled as he looked toward the pokemon, who looked for Jonathan's guidance or approval.

Tracey walked over to him. "This bulbasaur seems to have taken to you, huh?" he said.

"Yeah... I guess so..." Jonathan said, smiling slightly, feeling a little of that illusive happiness.

"This bulbasaur is smaller than the rest, and kind of slow to warm up to its surroundings... I'd thought it just need to get around some trainers. Maybe I was right, since now it looks comfortable."

"That's great," Jonathan said.

"You're really kind and gentle, it's lucky we had a prospective trainer like you here. It's really been a pleasure, Jonathan," Tracey said.

Jonathan felt a rush of joy at hearing this. This meant his hard work was going to pay off, didn't it? He could hardly wait to be a trainer with this bulbasaur as his first pokemon. He worked hard on his chores, as hard as he could. Then came to his final one, a meal time for pokemon before they went back to school.

"Okay, everyone! Make sure everyone gets their fair share, right? Including the water types in the tank."

While getting the food ready for the grass types, Jonathan noticed his classmates looking around. "Yeah," Gilbert muttered to himself. "I'm gonna get everything ready for the water types. You guys go somewhere else."

Jonathan nodded and continued on his way, starting to mix the food for the grass types.

"Ah, Gilbert!" Tracey said disapprovingly. Gilbert looked up, startled. "You were feeding the water types tank, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Gilbert said crossly.

"Gilbert..." Tracey tried not to sigh. "We talked yesterday. I know you all make mistakes, but this is a very undesirable ingredient for these specific water types."

"But-"

"I know it says in the books it can be helpful for the ones learning ice type attacks, but that's up to the trainer to decide, and we're not really the trainer here."

"But-"

"These water type pokemon won't take the food, they dislike it. Then they'll go without. That's not good, is it?"

"But..." Gilbert sighed as he finally got a word in edgewise. "This is blue..." he said, frowning.

"Oh... Right..." Tracey laughed nervously. Of course, these were nine or ten-year-old newbies, he couldn't really expect them to have the high level of expertise. They couldn't all be as knowledgeable and dutiful as Jonathan. "You were looking for this blue, right?"

"Oh, right..." Gilbert said. It was the darker blue for water, the lighter blue for ice.

"You really should learn the basic names of these ingredients though, Gilbert. It'll be on your test under basic information. Do you want me help you with a study guide?" Tracey asked.

"Yeah," Gilbert muttered as he tried to get the pokemon food ready. "Thanks, Tracey."

"No problem," Tracey said.

Jonathan smiled as he put the food and dishes on the kart to bring out. He already knew all of those ingredients by heart without the color codes, plus more, since he'd been studying all the time. When quizzing Jonathan, Butch even said he was getting better. Jonathan put down the food dishes happily in front of the greenhouse pokemon before heading to the outside. He saw a victreebel, and remembered his dad's. Once he had his own pokemon and was free of that school, just like his dad, Jonathan wouldn't have any one place that he lived, either. He'd get to see his dad more often, wouldn't he?

Jonathan traveled back to the moment, and set out the food dishes. "Bulba?" the tiny Bulbasaur looked up at him.

"Yeah, you can get some too. This'll be good for a grass type like you!"

"Bulbasaur!" the Bulbasaur happily ate up.

As Jonathan finished setting everything up, he sat down, looking around to see if all the pokemon were happy and being well-behaved with each other, and that he hadn't missed any. As he relaxed, sighing happily in the moment, he felt something at his leg, then jumped. He looked down, and it was just Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur..." Jonathan said with a smile.

"Saur, saur," Bulbasaur hopped in Jonathan's lap, affectionately nudging against him. Jonathan smiled and hugged it, rocking the pokemon. "Bulba!" Bulbasaur became comfortable in Jonathan's lap, and closed its eyes, seeming to begin an afternoon nap after the meal.

Jonathan patted the pokemon's head ever so slightly, and sighed quietly with his own happiness. This was something he could feel, right? Yes, he'd feel it, and help his pokemon to as well. Pokemon were companions that could be kept in the pocket, to take out anytime. Jonathan could give love and acceptance to these creatures and have those sentiments easily returned. He patted his soon-to-be pokemon's head again. He'd really try his best here, to bring up an awesome pokemon like Bulbasaur.

* * *

"Ah," Tracey sighed as he walked up the stairs. The group of five boys had finally left, leaving him free to rest. He did so as he entered the sitting room, sitting down on the couch and leaning back. Somehow helping the kids help him was more exhausting than just doing all the work himself, Tracey thought to himself.

"It's been rough for you these past few weeks, hasn't it, Tracey?"

"Oh, no!" Tracey sat up as soon as he saw the professor enter the room. "It's always a pleasure... But I guess it does take up a lot of energy."

"Mmm, I like sending off new trainers myself, it's been my pleasure for many years. Though I can't say I'm not glad to have your help now, it's really been a life saver. I'm getting older, so it's not so easy to do this on my own anymore."

"Thanks, professor," Tracey said with a grin. "As far as this time goes, I really think that there a lot of promising trainers from that boarding school, though. But you think that-"

"Well, I am limited to three from this group, Tracey," the professor said frankly. "It's unfortunate that we can't always send all these prospective trainers on their way."

Tracey nodded. "Of course, professor. Do you know which ones you might choose?" he asked. He'd been giving the professor updates on their progress all along, and would gladly provide input now if needed.

"Well, Gilbert's a given," the professor said.

Tracey nodded. Gilbert was the mayor's son, and they had to pay respect to that.

"The other two spots..." Professor Oak paused as he considered. "I'll have to see the full picture first, look at their test score and everything."

"I already know that Jonathan is going to score well," Tracey said.

"Ah... Jonathan won't be chosen," the professor said.

"Oh?" Tracey said with surprise and concern. "Why? Jonathan is probably the most promising of this group. He has a very good knowledge base. Not only that, he works the hardest, and gets along very well with pokemon. I'd really recommend him as one of the three from what I've seen of him."

"Even if there were more than three spots at the moment, it really wouldn't be possible, Tracey." The professor sighed.

"I don't understand, Professor," Tracey said.

"Well, you know have to consider more than just their test scores, and even more than just their performance here. I didn't want to discuss it, but I've discovered something very alarming about him."

"Alarming, about Jonathan?" Tracey furrowed his brow.

"Mm." Professor Oak nodded. "I wouldn't have suspected it just from meeting him, but I was told he had some connections to Team Rocket."

"What? Are you sure about that, Professor?"

"Yes. There were rumors going around the school. More than one person has said to me that Jonathan's parents are Team Rocket members. Rest assured I didn't just rely on rumor, I checked into it personally. I was able to confirm those rumors with his mother in any case. It turns out she's a Team Rocket member who has placed him in the school for caretaking purposes. We can't be connected with that ourselves, can we?"

"His mother? But Jonathan himself isn't, right?" Tracey asked.

"Maybe... Not at this point in his life, anyway."

"Professor, I really think that Jonathan would be an excellent trainer and not be influenced by that kind of thing."

"But family is really the biggest influence in the lives of most, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Tracey said gloomily.

"I know, Tracey. This task involves making some tough choices, that's certain. But this one is clear cut for me. I've been approached by two Team Rocket members mentioning him regarding donations. I accepted to be polite, but I can't really accept those regularly."

"But don't all the parents provide donations if they can afford it?" Tracey asked.

"Of course. But you know where the funds would come from in their case, don't you?"

"Oh... Yeah," Tracey said hesitantly.

"So you understand it wouldn't be appropriate to accept them continually the way we do with the other parents, would it?"

"Oh no, of course not," Tracey said.

"So you understand now. It's a difficult situation, since we want to avoid negative feelings. We have to tread carefully, be polite to him and the ones connected with him, and then slowly ease into the required outcome."

"Oh... I see," Tracey said.

"So you understand now, Tracey?"

"Yeah... It's too bad though."

"Yes, but don't dwell on that. We'll be sending out three promising trainers, won't we?" the professor pointed out cheerfully.

"Yeah, that's right," Tracey nodded with a smile. He tried to put the unhappy situation out of his mind and concentrate on the good he'd still be doing here. The other four were also nice kids, and loved pokemon, after all.

* * *

That night, Butch was over, quizzing Jonathan on possible essay questions that would be on the test. "What type of pokemon to take against a ghost type paradise, some kind of haunted mansion..." Jonathan repeated the question as he thought about it. "Just looking at type advantages, ghost types are strong against ghost types, but that would make things scary for my ghost type, too... I'd keep it in its pokeball, unless it was after I trained it to be really strong and fast. Even then, I dunno... I might use a dark type if I had one. Or any that were normal type. I'd have to use the whole team to defend in that haunted mansion, right?"

Butch smiled slightly. He was thinking, showing insight beyond his experience. "Your thoughts are fine. Put them on paper and we'll take a look."

Jonathan wrote quickly, and Butch took a look, only making minor suggestions. Jonathan listened carefully and changed it. "How's this? Butch, what do you think?"

Butch looked with a critical eye, and then saw some other things that could be changed, but took a look at his clock and let out a small sigh. "You're ready, Jonathan," he said.

"Huh?" Jonathan said, clutching his paper close.

"You can always improve, and don't forget it. But you've worked hard enough that I think you're ready for this test," Butch said.

"Yeah?" Jonathan said.

"Yeah. Be sure to get a good night sleep today, that's important too. You can't use what you've learned if you're falling asleep."

"Yeah," Jonathan said. "But what do you think? For real?" Jonathan held out his work again.

Butch took another look and gave him some verbal input. He then kept the work, and sent Jonathan off, telling him to bathe and then sleep to be fresh in the morning. Butch smiled then. He didn't want Jonathan to get a swelled head or anything, but doubted any of those kids would be near as prepared. Not to mention Jonathan had happily chatted about how well things were going in person, how they'd clearly been able to see his virtues and how he'd been able to apply his skills. And as an important addition to that, Butch had pushed the idea with Cassidy that parents were expected to contribute monetarily, and she'd approached Oak about that. Butch had even approached Oak himself, ready to contribute as much as needed in Jonathan's name. He wasn't Jonathan's parent, couldn't pretend he was, but he'd still do what he could to make this kid happy and successful.

Leaving, Butch took one look back at the school. He knew Jonathan didn't really like it here, hadn't since he'd started there almost five years ago now, but the kid also hadn't really let Cassidy know. Jonathan wouldn't complain to his mom, knowing she was just doing her best for him. Now he'd get to do something he really wanted, go where he wanted, and finally be happy. Butch felt kind of close to this kid, even if he really wasn't, and wanted this success for him. Maybe it was just for selfish reasons, but it still led to unselfish results, so he allowed himself this want for Jonathan. He was going to get this, and then get out this situation.

* * *

Jonathan woke up well-rested, and rode out with the other four boys. He felt optimistic and relaxed, his mind sharp and ready for this exam. He noticed that the others around him seemed fairly nervous. The three that had usually talked to each other and joked around during their various trips now sat in silence, two of them taking last minute looks through their books. Gilbert, who usually crowded Jonathan during these trips, also made use of his time, sitting behind Jonathan and leafing through his own books, and then sighing as they came close to the lab.

Jonathan also reviewed, though he mostly knew everything he'd already studied. Butch had said that most impressive would not be what he knew, but how he could apply it, and he had shown that in their weekly visits, Butch had said from listening to him muse over the events of each time. And he'd show that in the essays on this test. Right now he went over various information, relaxing as he realized that he knew the information. He sat back and went over some of the possible questions that he'd gone over with Butch beforehand, and what Butch had liked about his answers, different ways Butch had said he could improve and how they might apply to other questions that would be on the actual test.

By the time they arrived, Jonathan felt slightly nervous, the same as the rest, but still confident, able to relax more than usual for him. He went into the building with the rest. They didn't start the test right away, they came into Oak's lab first. The three 'starter' pokemon they'd all gotten to know ran out, and Bulbasaur went right for its favorite of the humans. Jonathan smiled and greeted the pokemon with a pat on the head before Tracey came out, sighing as he took the three pokemon away. Jonathan imagined what it would feel like only a week from that day, to pick out his first pokemon. He'd probably get Bulbasaur, even if he chose last, since the other four seemed more interested in Squirtle or Charmander.

Jonathan contained his excitement as he waited. As Tracey came back in, Jonathan ran up to him. "Tracey! Here's that book you leant me. I thought, I thought it was-"

"Ah, thanks Jonathan," Tracey said. He gave a curt smile, and then walked off. Jonathan felt slightly odd about this, and wondered if Tracey might be mad. Jonathan figured his nervousness was affecting his outlook, and he was just misreading things. There was nothing wrong. Tracey only put the book away, then talked to the other boys briefly, before taking them back to a sterile-looking room with five desks spaced apart to take their test. The boys sat down.

Jonathan felt calm as he went through the factual, multiple-choice part of the exam, and answered every question easily after being sure he'd read carefully. Then he spent time on the essay questions, taking time to choose the three out of five that he thought he could answer best, and then thinking through his answers fully. From listening to Butch's critiques of his practice answers, Jonathan could almost critique his own work in place of him. Jonathan knew it wasn't a perfect replacement for that kind of input, but still had confidence. Butch had said he thought that Jonathan was ready for this test, after all.

Jonathan was third to turn it in. He handed it to Tracey with a smile on his face. Tracey nodded, again curtly, his gaze going right back down to the desk. Jonathan again felt pause, but told himself that Tracey was busy, and testing was a serious time, then left. Jonathan waited on the steps of the ranch with the others, reading a book as the others ran off their nervousness.

Eventually everyone finished, and they drove back in the bus. Gilbert again hopped next to Jonathan. "That was way too tough!" Jonathan's classmate complained. "I didn't know anything!"

Jonathan couldn't help but smile to himself. He didn't wish ill on Gilbert and had been glad for the company during their visits here, even if he knew it was temporary and out of convenience. But Jonathan liked the fact that he didn't have to think like that himself. Even if it hadn't been perfect, Butch was right, he had been ready! Jonathan could hardly wait until the next week when they'd find out the results.

And he'd be given his pokemon right then, wouldn't he? That's what Tracey had said when one of the others had asked about it. Jonathan sat back, half-listening to Gilbert, and half-imagining the next week, driving back with his bulbasaur in a pokeball in his hand. Maybe even outside the pokeball, he wouldn't hesitate if the others brought out their own. And then, Bulbasaur would happy to leave as well, and they'd be traveling back to the school, getting ready to leave for good.

Jonathan was elated. Being able to leave for good might have made the others slack off, but it actually had Jonathan working harder in all his classes, energized by the idea. Hard work was what would be getting him what he wanted, wasn't it? Yes, it was. He'd get what he wanted, and he could finally feel happy, truly happy, since all of his loneliness and the strife that went along with it would go away with the presence of his own pokemon and ability to travel where he wanted.

Finally, the day came when they'd go back to Oak Ranch. Jonathan was the first waiting for the bus, and eventually the rest trickled over. "Where's Seth?" one of the boys asked. The other shrugged.

Gilbert scowled. "He'd better get here soon," he muttered.

Jonathan was also feeling impatient by the time the bus was actually there. Finally, Seth showed up. "Gilbert..." Seth said. "Hey, Gilbert, tell the bus driver that I won't be going, you can all head out without me.

"Why not?" Gilbert asked. Jonathan peeked over, also curious.

Seth frowned. "There's a limited amount of spots, you know! And I just know I didn't do well, okay?"

"You don't even want to check?" Gilbert asked.

"Just go, okay?" Seth said.

Gilbert and Jonathan both got on the bus now, telling the bus driver the news, and they set off. Jonathan's mind drifted to only happy places as they traveled along. He heard Gilbert mumbling about starters, how Charmander was apparently the hardest to handle, so he'd prefer Squirtle or Bulbasaur.

Jonathan didn't say so, but he knew what starter he would be choosing. He thought of the bulbasaur that would soon be his, and smiled. Unlike people, pokemon were friends that could be by their trainer's side constantly. Jonathan would work hard again, to be the best possible trainer for that bulbasaur.

They arrived, and Tracey led them all to wait in the hall, where benches had be placed down. He saw the eager faces looking up at him and smiled awkwardly back at them. "Professor Oak will talk to all of you. Just wait here," Tracey said.

After Tracey disappeared it was only a minute before Professor Oak came out to talk to them, though it seemed like much longer to the young boys. He called them back one at a time. Jonathan and Gilbert waited anxiously but silently as the other two were called in before them. The adrenaline went through Jonathan, and as Professor Oak came out again, he hoped it would finally be his turn, but instead Gilbert was called.

Well, it looked like he'd be last. Not that it meant anything, Jonathan honestly believed, other than he had to wait longer. Well, it also meant that the next turn was definitely his, he thought with a smile.

As Professor Oak opened the door, Jonathan stumbled to his feet, then standing straight, still nervous although he was pretty sure of the outcome. Professor Oak smiled gently at him. "Jonathan, right?"

"Yeah," Jonathan said.

"Come on back to the office with me, Jonathan," the professor said.

Jonathan followed directions. He was led into a sterile looking room with a computer. "Well, have a seat," the professor said. Jonathan sat down wordlessly at the table. The professor again smiled pleasantly at him, and sat down across from him. "Thank you for everything you've done, Jonathan. It's been a pleasure, having you and the rest here over the past few weeks. Tracey and I really appreciated your help."

Jonathan nodded. "Yeah. I was glad to," he said quickly.

"You've been especially helpful. It seems you have a great knowledge of pokemon facts."

Jonathan again nodded. "Thanks," he said quietly.

"You're smart, indeed. And as I'm sure you're aware, there are a limited number of spots for trainers," the professor said. As Jonathan said nothing, he continued. "Looking over your notes and test results, I am impressed by several things, such as your extensive knowledge, and thoughtful considerations of pokemon in various situations."

Jonathan sat up straighter and nodded. Tracey had praised him on these things as well.

"But, well, I did notice that you had trouble with some humans. You were hesitant to talk to your partners in several situations. When you did, you were often brief and mumbled, then wouldn't clarify what you'd said. You do know that Pokemon training also involves a lot of interactions with humans, don't you?"

Jonathan nodded again. Yes, this was an area where he needed work, and he'd certainly work on that.

"And, well, I'm afraid that's why you won't be able to leave as a pokemon trainer today."

Jonathan paused, frozen at hearing these words. He'd heard wrong, hadn't he?

"These skills are imperative for the trainers who leave here, and despite your brilliance in other areas, you're lacking in our qualifications. Though I can't say it hasn't been nice having you here, and I wish you the best."

The numbness went over Jonathan completely as Professor Oak kept praising him for not being able to be a good trainer. He supposed he said essential things to continue the conversation, but could barely move when it was time to scoot out of the professor's office. Jonathan managed somehow, and as he entered the hallway, he saw the others playing happily. He looked away from them. On the other side of the hallway was Tracey, who turned his head from Jonathan. Jonathan supposed even Tracey thought he was terrible all this time, and was just being polite in encouraging and praising him.

Jonathan walked near the exit, looking away from all of them, trying not to hear all both human and pokemon happy shouts. "Gilbert, please take this," he heard Tracey said. "You know your knowledge is lacking. Your test showed it, and you'll have to work hard to make up for it."

"I know, I know," Gilbert said.

Jonathan walked further down the hall, then heard Professor Oak on the phone. "Seth, why didn't you even come today? I should have been able to talk to you in person. Your scores were bad, but if you study and work hard with the next set of boys from your school, I might consider..."

Jonathan put his head down and ran to the bus, not wanting to see any of them at all. There he sat alone, silently, unable to even read one of the books he brought in his sorrow. So they had faults too, all of them. But only his were terrible enough to push him away completely. He was the outsider, the loner, as always.

He'd just wanted a pokemon... He'd been selfish and dreamed of training and caring for many, but just one pokemon, to be his friend, to love him and keep him company even though he was the outsider, it might not matter to a pokemon... But that was stupid to think, since he was so unworthy as a trainer. Jonathan choked back his tears, not wanting to cry, especially as he saw the boys tearing down the stairs after a while.

They jumped into the bus loudly, the kind of boisterous beings who were worthy of being trainers. Jonathan felt his heart break even more as he saw his bulbasaur, carried by Gilbert. "Alright, Bulbasaur! I'm sure you can just sit next to me, as long as you're well behaved."

"Saur," Bulbasaur said with a nod.

"Alright, and tomorrow we'll start our journey! Sorry we have to go back to my boring school, but we'll be out of there soon," Gilbert explained.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur hopped up and down in Gilbert's arms, rubbing affectionately against him.

"Hey," Gilbert said. He laughed at the pokemon's actions, and patted its head.

Jonathan watched jealously. He wanted to rip that pokemon away, to let Gilbert know it was his pokemon, give it back. It was his love, his affection that Gilbert was getting. He should be the one with the friendly bulbasaur in his arms, getting all of that love, feeling all of that happiness!

But it was Bulbasaur's choice to act this way. Jonathan didn't really wanted the pokemon to feel the pain that he was at this point, so he choked back his anger and selfish urges as Bulbasaur found happiness with the trainer chosen for it.

But Jonathan saw more of their affection and bonding from the corner of his eye, and, realizing that it wasn't like there was a substitute pokemon for him the way there was a substitute trainer for Bulbasaur, felt the sorrow and loneliness again stabbing into him. He really wanted that bulbasaur... But it wasn't like he wouldn't have also tried his best with Charmander or Squirtle and wished Bulbasaur well. They were both good pokemon, too... Jonathan peered toward the back, and saw the other pokemon with their trainers, also in similar happy scenes. Those weren't, and wouldn't be his pokemon either.

Jonathan shut his eyes and turned away, pretending to bury himself in the book. He wouldn't cry... There was no way he would, though the burning urge ripped at him. When they came to the school at last, he let the other three exit first. He saw other students crowd around them, wanting to see the pokemon. Finally, they had blocked the happy scene from Jonathan's own view.


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

Shakily, Jonathan stepped off the bus, heading to his dorm. He sat alone, his roommate out playing with the pokemon. He wouldn't, he couldn't. The sorrow and humiliation combined were too great, as was the jealousy of seeing his bulbasaur happily with its new trainer... But it wasn't his, it never had been, he chided himself, though all it did was increase his depression.

"Jonathan," a soft voice said from the door.

Jonathan looked up. Both his mother and Butch stood there. He had nothing to say upon seeing them, so he turned away, facing the wall instead of his visitors.

"We've just come to celebrate a little with you," Cassidy said. She sat down on the bed next to him. "So, where's your pokemon? I think I saw one of your friends with his outside. I might like to meet yours, so bring it out."

Jonathan still said nothing. How could he let his hopeful mother know what a terrible failure he was? How could he tell her that something about him was so awful that he'd never had a chance, no matter how hard he'd tried?

"Jonathan?" Cassidy said. Still seeing her son silent, she raised an eyebrow. "Come on Jonathan, we came all this way to celebrate. Don't act like this now."

"I didn't pass," Jonathan said quickly and sharply, just to get it over with.

"Hm?" Cassidy said, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't?" she said with some disbelief.

"No," Jonathan said firmly. She probably couldn't believe it, but it was true.

"And why's that?" Cassidy asked poignantly. "Butch has been over here helping a lot. Didn't you listen to him at all?"

Jonathan paused. What was there to tell her? What could he say to her that wouldn't irreparably disappoint or horrify her? How would his hopeful mother feel to know that something was just unforgivably defective about him? "I just didn't care," he said. "I didn't care enough, so I didn't work hard enough, so I don't get to be a pokemon trainer."

Cassidy was now silent, slowly taking in Jonathan's words. An icy tension filled the room. Cassidy looked crossly over at the son who wouldn't even meet her in the eyes. "Fine," she said. "You're going to have to do what you want. You don't even know what you want, do you, Jonathan? It's no surprise you were so lazy, then. I really hope you mature. You'll never get anywhere this way, I hope you know."

Jonathan tensed up, burying his head further into his desk. He heard Cassidy slam the door, and couldn't move. Even his mother knew how horrible he was. Yes, he'd been too lazy with his flaws, hadn't tried his best to be perfect, so he deserved this outcome. Jonathan grabbed his head, trying to pretend the rest of the world didn't exist.

"Come on," Butch said.

Jonathan peered to the side. So that guy was still here? That's right, Butch had come to visit a lot to help, putting in a lot of time and effort. Jonathan supposed Butch was probably angry now, having wasted so much time. Jonathan couldn't turn around and face this man, either.

"What really happened?" Butch asked.

"Nothing," Jonathan said.

"Don't tell me nothing. You definitely should have passed that thing," Butch said.

Jonathan tensed up, clenching his fists. Yes, he should have passed, but he hadn't, and all the effort put into helping Jonathan was wasted on a person like him. What would Butch think if he knew that?

Butch noticed that Jonathan was just shutting himself away, tightening the lock as Butch pushed at the door. He sighed, and then put a hand on Jonathan's shoulder.

Jonathan looked up with surprise as he felt it. The energy coming from Butch's hand, it didn't feel too angry. "I'm sorry," Jonathan said to him.

"Sorry to me? For what? You never did anything to me."

"You just... You wasted your time helping me."

Butch waited for the clarification, unsure of where this would go.

"You helped me, but I could never be a pokemon trainer."

"Of course you can," Butch said, refusing to speak in past tense. "What would even make you think you couldn't?"

"I just can't... Professor Oak told me."

Butch's heart skipped a beat. "He told you what, specifically?"

"He said I couldn't be a good pokemon trainer, even though I passed the test. Because I'm too quiet, and I'm not good at talking to people. Gilbert is good at that. Even though Gilbert didn't pass the test, he can be a good trainer. Bulbasaur is better off with him. Bulbasaur is... Bulbasaur is really happy with him."

Butch felt Jonathan trembling, and let his hand go. "You worked hard," he said to Jonathan. "It should have paid off, but it didn't this time. But don't mistake that you worked hard, and that you're worthy of everything that should have come to you, even though it didn't."

Jonathan heard the door open and shut. Now alone, Butch's words floated at the surface of Jonathan's mind, somewhat sinking in, but refusing to go all the way. He was worthy... But he wasn't really worthy, was he? If he was or wasn't, he just wished that Bulbasaur was with him now. He wished he had the happiness of playing outside with it, knowing that the next day he'd leave this school on an exciting journey.

That was another thing, wasn't it? Jonathan wasn't going to leave, he was going to be stuck here until he was twelve or so, then go and drown in an even bigger school. He didn't want to go to that other school, or stay here at all. His mom was right, he was lazy and didn't know what he wanted. Would Gilbert and Bulbasaur have fun?

Jonathan suddenly realized there were tears falling down his face. He did know what he wanted! He wanted that! He wanted to leave, he wanted fun, he wanted to send time with pokemon, training them, and get all the love and acceptance and happiness that came with that. But someone like him just wasn't worthy.

"There you are," Cassidy said to Butch as he caught up with her, while she paced about the abandoned lobby in her irritation. "Sorry about that, you bothered to come out here today, well, not even just today... Turns out I have just a lazy, unmotivated kid."

"That's not it, Cassidy," Butch said. "Jonathan takes after you. He knows he has to work to get what he wants and does it."

"Hm? Come on Butch, you heard him in there."

Butch let out a small sigh to himself. "Cassidy... I think I'll have to tell you something I never shared with anyone before."

"Oh? What brings this on?" Cassidy asked.

"It's relevant," Butch said. "You know I was studying to be a pokemon trainer myself, right?"

"Yeah, you told me about it already," Cassidy said, frowning.

"I didn't tell you the outcome," Butch said.

"You failed, right? Just like Jonathan."

"That's not it," Butch said. "That fucking test, I passed it with flying colors, just like I know Jonathan did. Old man Oak took me in his office and explained that to me. Also explained that I'd worked well with pokemon. He also explained to me why he couldn't let me be a pokemon trainer. Because I was poor and that meant there was no way my aunt and uncle were going to donate a dime to his work. And that's something that he depends on so he can keep sending out trainers and helping take care of their pokemon."

"Butch..." Cassidy said. It now made sense why he was so weird about making sure that she went and donated in person to Oak Ranch, making clear that she was Jonathan's mother. "I'm sorry about that."

"Just like Jonathan, I worked hard. I thought I might get out of my aunt and uncle's life, not just that, but actually have some fun in the meantime. I was crushed."

"Yeah... I can imagine," Cassidy said. It was even worse for a kid to have their dreams shattered like that, wasn't it? "But that's not what it was like for Jonathan. You warned me about that, didn't you? I did donate. Should I call Professor Oak to clear up the misunderstanding?"

"There was no misunderstanding," Butch said. "That shit Oak took that kid into his office and told me the same thing as me. Told him that because he was quiet and shy there was no way he could be a pokemon trainer, no matter how good he was with pokemon or how well he did on that damn test that he spent so much time studying for. Made him so ashamed that he couldn't even tell you about it. He did work hard, he was anything but lazy, and Oak and his assistant both recognized that and his talent. But Oak dug into his weak point and used that as a reason he couldn't accept him. He knew Jonathan was ashamed of his shyness, just like he knew I was ashamed of living in poverty. He used that to shame both of us into not saying anything else about how fucking nonsensical it was to not accept us. He gets plenty of donations that he can support a few poor kids! He sends out shy kids, as long as you know the right person! Both of us were more than qualified to give whatever help he wanted with his research. What he really meant was that he'd already decided in advance who would be accepted, and because me and him weren't part of that damn elite, we weren't going, no matter how much he pretended his selection process was fair."

Cassidy had been listening, but every word sent her into a further rage, and she couldn't even speak. Butch almost twenty years ago was one thing, but doing something like this now, to her son? Unacceptable.

"It's not fair, you know. Jonathan knows this brat called Gilbert, he's the son of the mayor of Pallet Town, where Oak is. The brat failed the test, but he gets to leave with the pokemon that Jonathan befriended, while Jonathan thinks it's somehow his fault, even though he tried so hard. He's really not lazy, Cassidy, he really did give it his best. And trust me, I talked to him while I helped him study... And he was really excited about doing this. Just trust me, he really, really wanted it."

Cassidy was seething by now, and she hardly noticed anything else around her as she began to walk back into the building and went up the stairs. She opened the door to Jonathan's dorm room again, and saw him turn around and look at her. His eyes were red, his face was wet. She felt her own heart start to break a little, seeing him suffering so much. She went over to him and pulled him close, hugging him. "I'm sorry, Jonathan," she said. "Butch said you really were working hard for this... You really did want it, didn't you?"

"Ah..." Jonathan couldn't speak, he wasn't even sure what to say. He swallowed nervously.

"If things were fair, you would have your pokemon right now. But things weren't fair. I'm sorry, Jonathan," Cassidy said, hugging him close again. Jonathan still didn't speak, and was still tense, unable to let what Butch and Cassidy had said sink in below the oily poison of Professor Oak's declarations. He couldn't believe that he was really worthy of what had been taken from him.

Cassidy felt this, and hugged Jonathan tighter. "You can't rely on yourself completely all the time, unfortunately," she said.

Jonathan swallowed again. Yes, that was his problem, being too quiet and shy and not relying on other people enough, he thought to himself.

But even as he chastised himself, his mother's gaze didn't look accusing at all. "You relied on Butch to help you, but I'm here too. I'll do something for you too, Jonathan. I'll figure out a way to make sure that if you keep working hard, you'll eventually get what you want, alright?"

"Alright," Jonathan said, his voice cracking as he finally spoke.

Cassidy smiled at him. "I'm sorry I snapped at you... I was wrong. You really aren't lazy at all, are you? Your grades show your hard work. You'll keep it up, won't you?"

"Yeah," Jonathan said. "I'm working hard. I'll keep... Working hard."

"Good," Cassidy said. She sat there a few moments, then patted Jonathan on his head, and walked out. Butch had stood by the door waiting for her, and now followed. They walked in silence, until they were outside of campus. Then Cassidy turned sharply over to Butch. "They're not going to play fair," she declared. Butch nodded. "So why should we?" Cassidy said casually.

Again Butch nodded. He got the idea of what she was saying immediately. They wouldn't push the issue tonight, but he had no doubt she would act quickly when it came to this matter.

* * *

"Are you absolutely positive that you want to come with me, Butch?" Cassidy asked.

"Why are you mentioning it? You think you could do it without me?" Butch asked.

"Probably not... But I don't want to bother you too much with my own personal family business," Cassidy said.

"You think I don't have my own personal grudge?" Butch said. "But it's not just for me, I have a grudge for Jonathan as well. I want this for him as much as you do."

"Hm," Cassidy said, smiling. "You're pretty kind when it comes to kids, aren't you, Butch?"

Butch shrugged. She seemed to have decided this, but truth was, he wasn't really. He would have slapped that Gilbert kid, stolen that bulbasaur and given it right to Jonathan if he'd thought it would help. But of course it wouldn't have, and that was the only reason Butch hesitated upon seeing the brat when they'd left the school that day. It wouldn't have done any good. That was what Cassidy should really be considering here. "Even if we get what we want here, Jonathan will always be tied to the Team Rocket by how he got there, you know."

"He already is irreparably tied to Team Rocket, just by being my son, isn't he?" Cassidy said.

Butch looked at her, and she stared off, irritated and frustrated. He shrugged. "I guess you're right. Time to cheat the same as they do, huh? You think the boss will be pissed that we acted on our own?"

Cassidy smiled knowingly. "There's no love lost between Giovanni and Professor Oak. I don't think he'll care at all."

"Then there's no reason to hesitate, is there?" Butch said.

"No," Cassidy said. It was ridiculous that they'd been thinking about hesitating at all, donning protective armor and nets guns, a bag full of gear with their pokeballs on the ready. The two of them grinned at each other, then ran around the parameter, setting up the various explosives. When the time came, Butch grabbed the ignition wand with a grin, hooking up the other end. He pressed it once. They heard the explosion.

"Now give it a minute," Butch said, mostly to himself.

"Yeah, we want these two to run around, don't we?" Cassidy said.

Butch nodded. They'd made sure, and they knew only Professor Oak and his one assistant were there. They would be more than enough for those two, and they wouldn't be able to even see them coming. He pressed the button again. Of course, this was yet another distraction. He and Cassidy stepped back as they waited a while longer. They pressed the button again, and the explosion happened right in front of them this time. This was where they would enter, and they did begin to walk through the wreckage of a barrier. As they went through, Butch pressed the wand a fourth time, then threw it aside as the fourth and final explosion happened a ways away. They took their pokeballs, and threw them.

"Go, Houndour, Raticate!" Cassidy said.

"Go, Charizard, Raticate!" Butch said.

Their pokemon came out. They were in the grass pokemon's area. They'd blast through with their fire pokemon, net any large groups of pokemon that might try and stop them, grab the large groups of pokemon in their pokeballs, and then leave. As expected, large groups of grass pokemon came out right away. "Houndour!" Cassidy called. Houndour let out a flame thrower, scattering the various pokemon.

Butch smirked, he figured the things thought that was all they'd have to deal with. But his borrowed Charizard swooped down, sending a flame thrower at the ones who weren't fazed at all.

"Bulbasaur?" a Bulbasaur hopped out and glared at the pokemon in the sky. "Bulba," it said adamantly.

Butch looked at the challenger. A bulbasaur. That was the species of pokemon that Jonathan had wanted to start with so badly. Could he come back with this one for Jonathan? He shot the net in the pokemon's direction. Several pokemon were grabbed up inside it. "Bulbasaur!" it said, running away. Butch shrugged. It wasn't the exact one Jonathan had befriended, anyway. Butch turned away, walking forward with Cassidy.

As they went further, Butch came across a young man. The kid jumped in fright, and then ran off. So, this was the assistant? It was the one that had praised Jonathan and put him up on that high pedestal only to make him fall into the broken mess he was right now. "Raticate!" Butch called.

"Raticate!" Cassidy echoed.

"Tackle attack!" they said in unison.

Their raticate slammed against Tracey, who fell to the ground, cringing in pain.

"You!" Professor Oak came into view. "So, you two cause this destruction to my ranch, and now attack my assistant?"

"Yeah, that's about what we just did," Butch said, holding out his hand to the charizard in the sky to hold fire while they walked slowly forward. They'd wanted to avoid Tracey giving their location to the other human, but that had just happened.

"I won't forgive this!" Professor Oak said firmly.

"Hmph," Cassidy said with a smirk.

"What makes you think we give a fuck what you'll forgive?" Butch said.

"We don't," Cassidy agreed. "How about your charizard takes care of this one?" she suggested.

"Hm? It's not like I want to murder him. That could be trouble, you know," Butch said.

"Don't worry, that charizard is pretty well trained. It won't kill him, though it might be fun to get him to the point where he wishes he was dead," Cassidy said.

"True enough," Butch said, then putting his hand in front of him. "Charizard, attack that human!" he order. "Be gentle... But not too kind," he said in a mocking tone.

Despite the callous, cruel way they spoke and the impending attack, Professor Oak appeared entirely unfazed. As Charizard flew closer, he stood up tall and threw his own pokeball. Out appeared a Blastoise. It grabbed hold of Charizard, who fell to the ground in its surprise.

"Think you can beat us with just a type advantage?" Butch snapped.

"Team Rocket's pokemon are well-trained, you know," Cassidy said.

"Hmm..." Professor Oak put a hand to his face. "Your gang's pokemon, trained in a rushed or harsh environment, cared for when the budget allows, or the pokemon of my various talented trainers, always given the best of care. Which one is stronger, hm? I'm really curious to see."

Cassidy and Butch both knew they were being mocked, and Butch reacted out of his own rage. "No fucking mercy, Charizard! Dragon Claw!" he shouted, pointing forward at the professor.

Charizard drew closer, getting ready to give the attack.

"Blastoise, hydro pump," Professor Oak said calmly.

The hydro pump smacked Charizard before its attack could land. It fell to the ground, and Butch could tell it was done for. He returned it, then stepped forward, wielding another pokeball. Suddenly he felt his hand held back, and shaken, and he dropped it. It was a pokemon's vine. He tried to remove it, but then found himself further restrained, both of his hands useless, and then he was slammed against a nearby storage shed, momentarily disoriented. "Bulbasaur," a Bulbasaur said, smiling at him in a eerie way.

From his new helpless point of view, Butch saw the blastoise move toward Cassidy, blowing back her houndour as she shouted an attack, and then restraining her against the ground. "Cassidy!" Butch yelled. He pulled at his pokemon made restraints. "Cassidy!" he shouted, desperately wanting some sign that she was okay.

Professor Oak sighed, completely calm. "Tracey, are you alright?" he asked.

"Mostly, professor," Tracey said, clutching his abdomen.

"That's wonderful," the professor said with a smile. "Now... What should we do with this group?" Professor Oak walked over to the woman. "Oh? Ah, I'd thought you were familiar. Jonathan's mother, correct?"

Tracey looked over curiously. Cassidy just glared at the men who stood above her.

"Well, now you can see why my decision was truly best, Tracey," Professor Oak said. Tracey nodded, and the professor continued. "We really don't want to be associated with this group."

"You think we want Jonathan to be associated with Team Rocket, either?" Butch said. "That's the last thing we want! You gave us no choice."

"Hm?" Professor Oak looked over at him. "Well, you do know there's always a choice. You chose to have a child, you chose to stay in an organization like Team Rocket despite what effect it would have on your child. Now, Jonathan has paid the price of those decisions."

Butch looked and saw that now Cassidy was suffering herself. Again, that man had found a weakness, and now tore into it. He could probably guess how guilty she felt about multiple things related to Jonathan. About getting pregnant with some loser's kid, about having to leave him various places, and most of all, about how he might be driven to join Team Rocket, getting into that lifestyle just by being related to her. Bullshit, he wanted to yell. Bullshit, you've done your best. But from looking at her Butch could see that the words were sinking into her, hurting her, because just like Jonathan her best hadn't turned out to be good enough. And he couldn't even move his arms, yet alone correct this. He looked away, letting out a grunt in his own frustration. "Your bullshit decisions affect us as well, you fucking moron. You and your damn elitist system. You can't just reject people, you have to crush them! You choose to crush the kids that aren't in your elitist circle your own damn self!"

"Oh?" Professor Oak looked at Butch. "I'd thought you looked familiar... Billy." Butch didn't say a word even to correct him. He didn't want this asshole to remember him at all. "Yes, it seems I made the correct decision with you as well. You seemed like a nice little boy, but I'm glad I trusted my instincts. I wouldn't want a foul-mouthed man who used his talents for evil to be associated with any official business today."

"Fuck you," Butch spat. He wasn't going to let the professor poison him as well, and rejected what was being said with every bit of his being. Things would have been much different for Butch if he'd been accepted as he should have been as a trainer. _He'd_ be different now. Rejection of various elitist groups had led him to become who he was today. He was in Team Rocket because that was the group that had finally accepted him. Would things be the same for Jonathan? It pained him to even think about it. Maybe it wasn't the worst fate, but it would devastate Cassidy the day he joined. And, though Jonathan was a kind kid and all, would being in Team Rocket harden and change him, or maybe even break him all over again? "Jonathan's not like us," Butch muttered, not really wanting the professor to hear it. He didn't want him to say anything against this belief.

"Now then," Professor Oak continued. "Tracey contacted the police right away upon your first explosion. I imagine the officer will be here right away to take care of you. Enjoy your time in jail, my respected criminals."

Officer Jenny indeed came and locked them up quite soon. The boss was surprisingly quick at springing them from jail. Though to Cassidy it had seemed like a while. She wanted to run to Jonathan right away, worried that he would have been taken away immediately upon her arrival in jail. But a quick call let her know that he was safe, continuing in the school as if nothing had happened, and she walked with some relief next to Butch where they'd been ordered to go, a place that would only increase her stress. The boss's office.

Indeed, the boss didn't look very pleased as they arrived. "The charges will go away," he said right away. "I made sure of it, since you've been such valuable agents."

"Thank you, sir," Cassidy and Butch said politely.

"However, we can't afford to have this kind of mishap again. Of course I don't know all of the details, but it seems that this plan wasn't at all up to your usual high standards."

"We apologize, sir," Cassidy said. She had to admit to herself that her boss was right. They'd gone in with no information on a whim with little force to back themselves up.

"I can't say I wouldn't like to see Team Rocket be able to exert its authority over Oak and his forces. But with all of the power that man yields, particularly in Kanto, we have to be careful. And that means at this moment, to try and peacefully co-exist with him. In order to avoid conflict, we've ignored each other. It only makes sense, since some of the most powerful trainers of the Kanto region are allied with Oak. By avoiding conflict, we're able to avoid being snuffed out by that large group."

"But sir, you can't really compare that professor to you, and his 'legion' to us, can you?" Butch said. "After all, we're your loyal servants, Oak's 'forces' are just friends and companions, not even really that close to most of them. He wants them to be independent entities, so they might not even be loyal to him. If things really got tough for Team Rocket, we'd all be there. But if things got tough for Oak, most of his 'forces' would just say 'not my problem', huh?"

"That's an interesting point of view," Giovanni said, considering it a moment. "So, you're saying that Oak is no threat to me if I try and attack him, are you? Though that may be true, but I will not put up with something as disgraceful as your most recent failure."

They hadn't thought it all the way through, Cassidy knew. But that wasn't the right thing to say to the boss right now. "Think of it as a trial run," she said. "We didn't really know what Oak was capable of when defending his ranch. But now we have a much better idea, and since it was such a 'failure', that old man won't think he needs to improve anything."

Giovanni sat a moment in thought. "So, you want to continue this endeavor?" he said.

"Yes, sir," Cassidy said, and Butch nodded in agreement.

Giovanni shook his head. "Well, I'll have to close the door on it for now, for various reasons, including the balance of this region."

Cassidy and Butch both felt the disappointment and anger go through them, but knew this was the boss's final word. Cassidy clenched her jaw. How could she get Jonathan what he wanted, what he'd earned? Maybe in another region? No, Oak was connected to them. It would be the exact same network, putting him through the same disappointment all over again, since Oak had already blacklisted him. But these words of the boss, they were a wall. As a Team Rocket member or not, Cassidy couldn't do anything else.

"However, I know you two are quite bright, and cunning. I'll consider opening the door for you, if you provide me with a plan I can approve. Consider it carefully, and give me something with no holes. Only with a strategy I've approved can you touch Oak's ranch again. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Cassidy and Butch said, bowing politely. They knew it was a warning as well as an order, and that if they went to Oak ranch again without his approval, there would be much greater consequences.

"Fuck it," Butch cursed as they walked down the hall from Giovanni's office.

Cassidy's feelings were similar. What could she think of that he would approve? It couldn't just be good, it had to be flawless, impressive. Otherwise that door that he'd shut would just remain like that, airtight. She'd thought she could gain some kind control, but instead found herself useless in this system, completely powerless. Fuck it indeed, Cassidy thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

"Tracey, could you make me some tea?" Professor Oak asked as he sat down. He would normally make it himself, as Tracey helped with so much, but he'd been feeling more tired these days.

"Oh, of course," Tracey said, and rushed to please. "Professor, are you feeling alright?" he asked.

"Just a little tired," the professor replied.

"Oh, I see. Was the Team Rocket intrusion a little too much for you?" Tracey asked.

Professor Oak chuckled. "I enjoyed the excitement."

"Excitement?" Tracey said, blinking in surprise.

"Right. You don't think they're the first to try something like that, hm?"

"Really? I don't remember anyone else doing that," Tracey said.

"Right... It's been quite a while... I really did enjoy the excitement. But I am a little tired today, Tracey, so if you don't mind me retiring for the night..."

"I understand, professor," Tracey said. "I'll get you your tea, and then I'll take care of everything else."

"Thank you, Tracey," the professor said, closing his eyes as he rested.

* * *

Jonathan waved good-bye as Cassidy left. Ever since he'd failed, she'd been visiting him much more often, and he liked it. She'd hug him and tell him what a nice boy he was and how she was so happy he was still trying his best and not giving up all while laughing and joking with him. But when she left, and he was alone again, the pain continued. He couldn't tell her about his misery, and besides, he was happy when his mom was around. Looking out the window, Jonathan spotted a stray caterpie on a distant tree. Those evolved quickly, into metapod, and then beautiful butterfree. And they were pretty common. Not that he could ever catch one. Turning away, Jonathan tried to forget these gloomy thoughts. But looking at what he still had wasn't any better than looking at what he couldn't have.

Cassidy saw the depressed expression on Jonathan's face, and scowled herself. He'd been trying to be so cheerful around her, hadn't he? But things were the way they were despite that. As Cassidy was walking, seething at her current situation as she tried to consider plans that might benefit them. Her initial plan was to resort to underhandedness, since she was angry and would do anything, but was there even any legitimate way to go? Since people with similar programs in other regions were connected to Professor Oak, probably not. Cassidy couldn't think of anything to do on either side.

Her phone rang. Cassidy answered it gruffly. "What?" she said.

"Glad I'm not whatever pissed you off," Butch said on the other end.

"Hm," Cassidy said, raising an eyebrow. Usually Butch didn't call her. It was always important when he did. "What's up?" she asked.

"Oak," Butch said.

"Yeah, I've been thinking over and over about what to do about that bastard," Cassidy said.

"Well, what would you say if he just dropped dead?"

"I'd say good riddance," Cassidy snapped. "Not that we can actually kill him, but the bastard should die."

"It's not just what you'd say, but what you'd do, right?" Butch continued. "Oak doesn't have an 'heir' or anything, does he? He has that little bitch of an assistant, but from what I've heard the guy is spineless and not ready to replace him. He has a grandson out doing research all on his own, but he's young and not even around, is he? If Oak just dropped dead, that ranch would be in a state of disarray, the perfect target, wouldn't it? Can you think about how you'd make the perfect airtight plan for the boss, then?"

"Yeah, of course I'd be able to. But it's not like something so convenient would happen just because I wanted it to," Cassidy said.

"Yeah, well I'm not calling because I'm just wishing for luck or something, I'm calling because it happened. The bastard is dead."

Cassidy's eyes widened in surprise, then she grinned as the predatory urges went though her. "It's not a joke, is it? No, you aren't the type to joke about something like this."

"Not at all a joke," Butch said. "Old age, left in his sleep, missed by many, blah blah blah, Kanto is finally free of him," Butch said.

Cassidy grinned to herself as she took in Butch's news on the phone. "Ah," she said with some relief. "I'll have to rush back. Stay by your phone, okay? I'll see if I can get a plan ready for the moment I walk in the door."

Cassidy ran now, hurriedly getting on the train where she got on her portable computer and used various aspects of her plans in progress, to make one big one. It wasn't completely polished, but it was still impressive. She'd done plenty of her own research, studying every article or book mention of laboratory and connected ranch dating back to when it had been constructed years ago. When finished, Cassidy called Butch, told him to print it out and take it to the boss himself. As she arrived at her station, she ran as quickly as she could, hitched a ride with other rockets, and walked in the boss's office when she arrived. "Sir," Cassidy said, giving a polite bow, unable to completely hide her excited smirk. Still she felt a little nervous, as Giovanni could still try to 'maintain the balance' from here.

"Good to see you've arrived," Giovanni said. Butch already stood next to him, and had already delivered her plan, and from the looks of things, he'd already read it. "You know... We really can't turn down this opportunity. Just be sure not to fail."

"Of course not, sir," Cassidy said, bowing with a smile on her face. "This should be fairly simple and straightforward."

"Good, I'll expect nothing less," Giovanni said, getting on his phone to relay the orders to various areas.

This time, they didn't even have to sneak inside. None of the explosions were distractions this time, they were all accompanied by well-equipped teams with their own well-balanced teams of pokemon. Cassidy had distributed them herself from the bank. They used their type advantages in the various areas to overtake the pokemon in each one.

"Seems a little too easy," one grunt said. "Didn't the old man have all these famous trainers' pokemon?"

"You think all the pokemon here are well-trained pokemon belonging to famous trainers?" Cassidy said. "No, we have a lot of amateur trainer's pokemon and also the dregs of those 'famous' trainers."

"Then why even bother with this?"

"Well, there have to be a few powerful pokemon, but that's not the point. We're just going to take all the pokemon, without checking. Do you have any idea how much this will paralyze Kanto?" Cassidy grinned. "Not to mention terrorize... Such a display of power from Team Rocket..."

Closer to the ranch, with his team, Butch kicked down the door. Inside, he saw Tracey sitting there, dropping a device on the floor. Butch grinned as he picked up the portable phone. They'd cut the outside line, and Tracey had probably picked that up first. Now he could see that the call he'd been trying to make hadn't gone through. Butch glared over at Tracey. This guy was already paralyzed with fear, no need to restrain him or anything. "Just you? Or is there anyone else here?" Butch asked.

"Nobody... but me," Tracey said.

Butch studied his expression. Tracey was shaking, looked about to cry. He supposed that the assistant was probably telling the truth, and frightened about what might happen to him now, alone in the ranch full of criminals. Butch grinned. "Where's the pokeball storage?" he asked.

Tracey didn't answer. Butch picked him up and shook him. "Gonna play mute?" he asked. Further observing Tracey, Butch thought he might not be able to talk from fear. Butch pushed Tracey back on the chair he'd been sitting on and ordered a grunt to watch him, then went to walk around.

It hadn't really taken much to find the storage. It was unlocked, even. Butch set the grunts into motion, ordering them to grab every last one of these pokeballs. He felt an elation as he saw the room emptying of its contents. He walked right past the helpless assistant in the hall, going outside where he stood at the top of the steps of Oak Ranch. Looking down, he could see the grunts loading up every pokemon and pokeball in the place. That was Cassidy's plan, and they were succeeding, with no resistance in sight.

This would be no minor event, Butch knew. Oak thought he could exert his power over them as part of Team Rocket, over him as a kid, over Jonathan now. Well, now he was out of the picture, completely irrelevant to anything. And they were on top, now with all of the power. They'd exert it to get what they wanted, to put the people they thought were worthy where they should be.

* * *

"Tracey..." Gary sighed. He felt angry, frustrated, weary, and wanted to place some blame on Tracey, but knew there was really no point. Any one person would have been completely overtaken in this situation. There wasn't anything that Tracey really could have gone. Gary sighed again.

"How could Team Rocket do something like this?" Max demanded. "Are they trying to start a big fight or something?"

"It was just a crime of opportunity, Max. I guess Grandpa just grew too complacent with Team Rocket being so shy to him in recent years. Giovanni must have been just waiting for an opportunity like this."

"Team Rocket came earlier, a few weeks ago. There were just two of them then, though," Tracey explained. "The professor was able to subdue them himself."

"Geez gramps, that could have been a wake up call for you," Gary spoke to his departed grandfather, and then sighed again. There was a knock on the door, and he saw Tracey jumped. As it opened and revealed Professor Birch, he relaxed slightly. "Professor!" Max greeted him. "You should see what happened here! You've come to help?"

"I had come to help with the transition," he sighed. "But it seems like there's nothing left to help with, here."

"There were some pokemon that got away... They hid..." Tracey said.

Ash burst in, shaking Tracey now. "They hid? Did you hide, Tracey? Why didn't you do anything?"

Gary sighed yet again. Ash couldn't hold back his emotions, representing the emotions of all the trainers of the stolen pokemon. "Ash," Gary said, pulling him back from Tracey.

"I was trying to call for help," Tracey said, shaking in his upset. "Then they broke the door down, and there were so many of them..."

"It's okay, Tracey. There was no way you could have gone against all of them, right Ash?" Gary said, glaring at him.

"Right..." Ash said, cooling down. "Did they get... everyone?"

"A-Almost all of them," Tracey said. "There are a few left... In the various areas, like I said."

"Damn it! I'm gonna go look! Let's go, Pikachu," Ash yelled.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu called after Ash as he ran off, then followed after him.

"I didn't know what to do," Tracey said, holding his head. "Everyone was counting on me..."

"Tracey, don't blame yourself," Professor Birch said.

"That's right! It was their fault, they're the bad guys!" Max said.

Tracey nodded, and led them all into the next room to sit down, serving them lunch. As they ate and talked and looked over paperwork that the professor had left, Professor Elm and Professor Rowan both arrived. They mostly sat in silence, all of them thinking. "Where do we even begin with this mess?" Professor Birch finally spoke.

"Informing all of the trainers of the status of their pokemon, I suppose," Tracey said, frowning.

"That would take quite a while," Professor Rowan said.

"Indeed, it's a job for more people than we have here," Professor Elm said.

"I do know most of the pokemon pretty well, but yeah, that's true..." Tracey said.

"Perhaps one of us needs to stay here as a leader for the next few months," Professor Rowan said.

"That's a good idea," Gary began. "I can't imagine people are too happy with my family right now, and Tracey could really use some help. I'm not really my grandfather either. I doubt I could handle things as well as he could."

"You have your own life to lead, right, Gary?" Professor Rowan said.

"Well, I really did think I might come back here someday and take over for gramps one day. But right now... Like this... I definitely need to help, but..."

"It's understandable, Gary," Professor Rowan said. "The question remains, who can we get to fill Samuel's shoes?"

"I don't really think anyone can," Professor Birch said.

"It's true, it might take a team effort of our assistants and other allies here in Kanto," Professor Elm said.

"Let's make a plan of attack, then," Gary said.

"I'll get-" Tracey suddenly jumped as he stood up.

Everyone turned around, and saw Cassidy and Butch standing in the doorway. Butch came and sat down right next to them like he belonged there, folding his arms and smirking as he did so. Cassidy stood behind him, leaning on the chair.

"Who are you two?" Professor Rowan asked.

"Care to guess?" Cassidy said, pointing to the 'R' on the uniform she wore. They'd ostracized Jonathan for this uniform, but now it was a symbol of power, and she showed it off proudly.

"The criminals," Professor Birch said, hatefully glaring at them.

"None other than the masterminds behind all of this," Butch said.

"We should call the police," Max said.

"Go ahead," Butch said blankly. "We'll just walk about before they get here, and you still won't have your pokemon back."

"So, why are you here? There's nothing left to steal, is there?" Professor Elm said, remaining as calm as this repulsive duo was being as they intruded.

"I'm sure we could find something," Cassidy said. "But no, we're just here to discuss the situation with you."

"You know it better than us, don't you?" Gary said.

"I guess that's true," Cassidy said. "Maybe that's why you should listen to us."

"Yeah, we've put you in a real bind, haven't we?" Butch said. "We might be willing to loosen it a little."

"Why would you want to do that?" Gary asked.

"Various reasons," Cassidy said.

"We shouldn't be talking to these people," Professor Birch said.

"Let's at least hear them out," Professor Elm said. "We can't really get worse off just by listening to them."

Cassidy shrugged, smiling. "It's true, isn't it? I think you'll find our offer very appealing compared to your current situation."

"What is this offer?" Gary asked calmly.

"We're willing to let a couple of crates of pokeballs in our custody get 'lost', so you can 'find' them," Butch said. "It's without the permission of our boss, so it'll look like an accident."

"That's right, it's a personal offer from us," Cassidy said. "Consider it carefully and quickly, it won't be around once all the pokemon arrive from various locations to their destination and we lose control of them."

"Right now you have what, a handful of pokemon that we missed? We'll let a few hundred or something go, and once you recover them it'll relieve the 'bad news' to all of your trainers a little," Butch said.

"Disgusting," Professor Birch said.

"You guys are the ones that stole them, you need to give all of them back!" Max said.

Gary put up a hand to silence him. "You haven't said what you wanted for this yet."

"Just a small favor," Cassidy said.

"It's nothing major at all," Butch said, looking away.

"Should we be doing favors for these people?" Professor Birch said.

Again, Gary held up his hand. "What's the favor?"

Cassidy swallowed nervously. She could see that Butch was nervous too. Both of them were, despite the pompous attitude they'd been able to show. Despite the fact it was all to their favor to cooperate, these people could still say no, after all. After a moment of silence, she willed herself to speak. "My son," Cassidy said. "He's ten. Let him start as a new trainer."

There was some murmuring, but Gary stopped it as he stood up. "So you're saying if I let him start as a new trainer, you'll give back a substantial amount of the stolen pokemon?"

"Who is he?" Cassidy asked Butch, motioning toward Gary.

"Oak's grandson," Butch said.

"So, you're in charge of the Kanto branch now, are you?" Cassidy asked Gary directly now.

"That's right," Gary confirmed. Even if it was temporary for this moment, they didn't really need to know that.

"Then no," Cassidy said. "I don't want him here, marked as being related to me, everyone knowing why he was able to begin as a pokemon trainer. I could just give him one of the stolen pokemon myself and start him out, couldn't I? But that not what I want. I want him far away from Kanto. One of the other regions. You're all in charge of similar programs in various other regions, aren't you? Even Johto, over the mountain would be fine. Even if they follow Kanto news closely, no one will know who he is. One of you let him start in your region."

"I refuse!" Professor Birch said right away.

Cassidy frowned, looking toward the other two.

"It's not as simple as that," Professor Elm said. "There's a selection process, and we have to make sure-"

"He's already been through your sham of a selection process with the thankfully departed Oak," Butch said.

"So you think you can nullify the results it just by threatening us?" Professor Birch said.

"I'm afraid if he wasn't chosen, then-" Professor Elm began.

"There's no point in reasoning with these shits, Cassidy," Butch said.

The arguing continued, but Professor Rowan interrupted it. "Tracey," he said. "Do you remember this boy?" he asked, then turned to Cassidy. "What's his name?"

"It's Jonathan... Right?" Tracey said. Cassidy nodded.

"Get his file, would you?" Professor Rowan asked.

"Right," Tracey said.

There were a few moments of awkward silence before Tracey came back. He handed it to Professor Rowan, who took a few moments to look through it. "I can't really see why Samuel wouldn't accept this boy," he said.

"There's a variety of factors to consider, the professor said," Tracey said quietly, spying a look toward the two rocket members that glowered at the rest of the room.

"Of course," Professor Rowan said. "But I don't need to hear about that." He turned toward Cassidy. "I'm Professor Rowan of the Sinnoh region. Provided you keep your part of the bargain, I'll accept Jonathan as one of my new trainers."

Cassidy had been trying her best to appear strong and tough, but the relief in her heart, imagining her broken son finally being given what was coming to him, it was all starting to bring tears to her eyes.

"Professor Rowan!" Professor Birch exclaimed. "You can't just give in to their demands!"

"It's a harmless request. It's yours to refuse, and mine to accept," Professor Rowan said.

"You really will?" Cassidy said, hardening her expression, glaring sharply at him now, not wanting to get the wool pulled over her eyes by a lie.

Professor Rowan nodded. "I'll pull up the paperwork to give you some kind of guarantee in writing. You'll feel more comfortable that way, won't you?"

Cassidy nodded. They communicated more before they left. Gary sighed in relief as they did. "It's something, is it?" he said.

"Professor Rowan, I can't really condone this," Professor Birch said.

"It won't do any harm," Professor Rowan said. "You'll just have to agree to disagree."

"Right, thank you," Gary said. He'd have been more than willing to just let whoever the kid was start just start to dig himself out of even a little of this, but he'd gotten nervous when he realized that he'd have to rely on the other professors. It was a small relief.

* * *

Jonathan jumped as his dorm room door opened. He saw his mother enter with a huge smile. He turned away and she give him a sudden hug from behind. "Jonathan," she began. Jonathan turned around, he could feel her warmness and enjoyed it. But why was she acting like this, he wondered?

"I have great news for you," Cassidy said.

"Huh?" Jonathan blinked.

"I've been looking around for you," Cassidy said. "At other options for you as a pokemon trainer, I mean."

Jonathan looked away, remembering all of his disappointment. But he wasn't a pokemon trainer, he was going to say, but couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

"Don't look like that, Jonathan, this is great news," Cassidy said. "Professor Oak may not have liked you, but I talked to professors in other regions, and they recognize all the hard work you put in. One in the Sinnoh region wants you to start as a trainer there. He thinks you're perfect for what he's looking for."

Jonathan could hardly take this in. "He does?" he said blankly.

"Yes," Cassidy said, hugging Jonathan again. "I already talked to your school. We'll fly you out this Saturday, and you'll start right when you arrive. Do you know where Sinnoh is?"

"Yeah," Jonathan said. It was a distant picture in his mind, he didn't know too much about it, but got the generalities. "Is it really... Okay that I go?"

"Of course," Cassidy said. "Don't think you don't deserve it, either. Here, I've bought you a guide for Sinnoh for you, you can read it, and then get ready to leave," Cassidy gave him the book. "How do you feel, Jonathan? Happy? Excited?"

Jonathan nodded, though he was still in a state of disbelief, he could hardly believe this was happening. He'd thought it was certain that he'd never get this, and it was having a hard time letting it sink in that his mom was telling the truth, even though he really knew she was. He looked at the cover of the book, a large picture of Mt. Coronet there, and then the back, with various pokemon native to the Sinnoh region. He then gave her a hug. This was really going to be, wasn't it? He felt nervous and excited all at the same time.

Cassidy pat him on the head. She felt a definite sense of satisfaction that she was able to change the path that been decided in advance for her son, to take hold of the control of this decision so Jonathan could take control of his own future.


End file.
